Daniel t



(No Model.)

D. T. SMITH.

CARRIAGE TOP JOINT. No. 445,631. Patented Feb. 3,1891.

DANIEL T. SMITH, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN T. GROVES, OF SAME PLACE.

CARRIAG E TOP JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,631, dated February 3, 1891.

Application filed May 8 1890. Serial No. 351,026. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL T. SMITH,acitizen of the United States, residing at Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Carriage-Top Joint, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to carriages and wagons, and more especially to thejoints for supporting the tops thereof; and the object of the invention is to form the finished top joint, which comprises the stump-joint and joint end, from sheet metal made either concave, convex, tubular, oval, square, or of other shape in cross-section.

The invention consists of a finished top joint or the parts thereof known as the joint end andstump-joint made as here inafter more fully described, and as illus trated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carriagetop, showing my improvement applied to the joints thereof. Fig. 2 is a plan view of two members of the top, showing them slightly separated. Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2, showing another form of the inside member of the joint. Fig. 4: is a perspective view of one of the halves of a member standing at the outside of the joint. Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of halves of the inside joint members, respectively, shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. Wis a plan view of the blank from which one of the halves is stamped. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the stumpjoint and joint end, showing how either may be made of a single half. Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing the joint connected on the rivet having the rigid and separate heads.

Referring to the said drawings, the letters 0 and I designate members of the joint supporting a carriage-top, which members are connected at their meeting ends by a knucklejoint and are connected at their outer ends to the carriage-seat and to the top or to the bows supporting the top, as is commonly the practice. Heretofore these members have been made usually from rods or bars of metal and their ends cast, forged, or in other ways shaped so that they can be pivotally c0nneoted. Each of the membersland O is composed of two halves or sections, and each half or section is stamped from a single piece of sheet metal approximately of the shape shown in Fig. 7. At one end is formed a disk D, having a hole H through its center, and through the aligned holes of the several disks is passed a rivet R, whose heads R. R are preferably large and flat, as shown in Fig. 1. The member 0, whose disks Dstand at the outside or next the rivet-heads, is constructed of two halves or sections stamped in this manner, the disk D of each half or section standing in the same plane with the body thereof, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, and the two halves or sections of the member are brazed or soldered together. The member I, whose disks D stand inside the disks of the other member, is formed in substantially the same manner from two halves or sections, each of which is stamped as above described. In so stamping a half member or section in this instance the disk D is caused to stand slightly inside the plane of the body of the half or section, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, so that it will pass just inside the disk D of the other member 0, and between the two inner disks is seated a metal washer \V, having a hole H aligning with those in the disks; or in doing the stamping in this instance the disk D may be cupped slightly, yet still provided with the hole II, as in Figs. 3 and 6, so that when the two halves or sections are connected the two disks will meet at the-center, and there is no necessity for the washer N, as the cup shape of the inner disks takes the place of the washer.

By reference to Fig. 9, which shows the stump-joint connected together, it will be seen that the rivet R has two heads R R both of which are flat on the inside and provided wit-h a beveled periphery. One head R is formed solid with the rivet, while the other head R is a separate piece and riveted in place. B y this construction the joint is made interchangeablethat is to say, can be used on either side of the carriage, there being no rights and lefts, as in other carriage-top joints.

The members of carriage-top joints constructed in this manner are light, strong, and durable. It is well known that a tubular structure has more strength than a solid bar of the same weight, and it is certainly much easier to stamp these members in two halves or sections and afterward connect them than to make the members of solid pieces, as here tofore. The joints formed as above described are very strong, as there is a double bearing or connectionone near each head of the rivet-and if the washer be interposed (although it is not necessary to use it) it holds the two connections separated and in close contact with said rivet-heads. The brazing or soldering of the two halves or sections together leaves no dents which would obstruct painting, j apannin g, or plating, and thereforethe finished device possesses a neat appearance in addition to its strength, lightness, and durability.

It will be seen that in securing the two halves together the sections are placed together with their edges resting flat against each other. Thus after the paint or japan is applied the joint is practically invisible. Each half is of the same thickness throughout, so that when the meeting edges of the sections are placed flat against each other they fit flush with their faces both inside and out.

In practicing my invention I do not wish to be limited to manufacturing the entire finished joint, as in some instances I may make only the stump-joint or the joint end in accordance with my invention; also in some instances, as shown in Fig. 8, I may make either the joint end, the stump joint, or the entire finished oint of a single half or section, which is stamped in the same manner as has been before described.

I am aware that it is old in the art to make carriage-bows in two parts of sheet metal with a filler of wood and with or without a covering of leather, and this I disclaim.

What I claim isl. In a carriage-top joint, the stump-joint composed of two halves stamped from sheet metal in convex, concave, tubular, oval, square, or other shape in cross-section, each half having a disk D formed integral therewith, and said halves being joined together with their meeting edges flat against each ,other to form a hollow structure, substantially as set forth.

2. A carriage-top joint, the same comprising two tubular members, each composed of two halves stamped from sheet metal and joined at their meeting edges, each half having a perforated disk at its end and the disks of one member being driven inside the plane of its body in the act of stamping, andarivet passed through the aligned perforations, substantially as described.

3. A carriage-top joint, the same comprising two tubular members, each composed of two halves stamped from sheet metal and joined at their meeting edges, each half having a perforated disk at its end and the disks of one member standing just inside the disks of the other, a perforated washer fitting between the two inner disks, and a rivet passing through the aligned perforations, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afi'ixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL '1. SMITH.

Witnesses;

B. M. WILooX,

CHAS. G. ADAMS. 

